AB InBev reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its disputed $20.1 billion acquisition of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo, which faces inquiry over Mexico worker deaths.

GE to buy Lufkin for $3 billion in oil-and-gas-industry play.

PepsiCo seeks to patent novel high-protein nutrition beverages.

Adidas stops controversial sale of t-shirts around injured Louisville player Kevin Ware.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong to be honored for pro-women Makers series.

Apple's former advisor to Steve Jobs admits brand screwed up iPhone naming system.Continue reading...

Pepsi promoted new artists like Hunter Hayes as part of its presence on the Grammy Awards last night, but most of its music marketing budget remains devoted to one very established diva: Beyonce.

Beyonce is demonstrating her personal-brand firepower these days like no time in recent years. Using her Pepsi-sponsored Super Bowl halftime show as a launching pad, she also gave an award at the Grammys with Ellen Degeneres, made time to serve as the cover girl for the March issue of Vogue, taped an interview with Oprah Winfrey scheduled to run on Saturday and, of course, is awaiting reaction to the documentary about her that HBO plans to run on Sunday.

That's all by way of ramping up fan fever for her new "Mrs. Carter World Tour," which kicks off in Belgrade in April and finally reaches the United States in late June. MasterCard is holding a ticket presale event.Continue reading...

In addition to new campaigns for Ford's "Hello Again" music project for the Lincoln brand and Kraft's "We are the World"-like music video for its Miracle Whip dressing during the Grammy Awards telecast on CBS, a host of other brands used the post-Super Bowl platform to make some noise.

Anheuser Busch InBev's Bud Light Platinum debuted its new new campaign by its new "creative director," Justin Timberlake, while Target also used the Grammys to kick off its tie-in with the singer's new album and promote its tie-ins with singer Pink and fashion designer Prabal Gurung:Continue reading...

Atari files for bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

RIM could license BlackBerry 10 software.

Sony plans to introduce tablet challenging Apple and Samsung.

AIG learns from "Thank You, America" misfire.

Alfa Romeo plans brand return to U.S. late this year.

Boeing sees safety investigators dismiss one potential cause of Dreamliner fires.Continue reading...

As Lance Armstrong’s personal brand and fortune hits the skids, Oprah Winfrey’s OWN and partner Discovery Communications are reaping the benefits.

The question is to what extent the interview with the disgraced cyclist will serve as a turning point for her eponymous network, which launched on Jan. 1, 2011.

Discovery has invested more than $400 million in OWN, and says the channel will turn a profit for the first time in the second half of 2013.

OWN is turning a corner on per-subscriber fees from some of the biggest U.S. cable and satellite operators, with a reach of 83 million homes and the contractual ability to boost those subscriber fees two years post-launch now kicking in.

So is OWN finally ready for prime time, and will the Armstrong exclusive enhance the network's performance?Continue reading...

Oprah Winfrey and Discovery's OWN TV channel sets ad premium Lance Armstrong TV confession while his personal brand redemption bid is seen as falling short.

AT&T takes $10 billion pension charge against earnings.

Amazon launches music store for Apple devices.

Ameriprise Financial taps Tommy Lee Jones for encore.

Aston-Martin seeks development partner to build high-end engines.

Boeing grounding of Dreamliner forces airlines to scramble.

Chrysler nears deal to restart in-house financing.Continue reading...

Boeing's troubled 787 Dreamliner grounded in Japan.

JPMorgan cuts Jamie Dimon's pay, tops estimates with profit.

Dell falls from PC king to buyout fodder.

Apollo Group to offer course on innovation.

Audi bows out of sponsoring inaugural this time around.

Boeing sees Dreamliner make another emergency landing, in Japan.

Bristol-Myers Squibb plans to discuss settling Hepatitis C claims.Continue reading...

The Huffington Post Media Group and OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) have launched HuffPost OWN, a vertical focused on motivation, inspiration and fulfillment.

Selections will include this year’s crowd- and brand-pleaser, Oprah’s Favorite Things, a franchise that was a gift-tastic Super Bowl for Oprah's fans when she had her daytime talk show. The tradition returns with a holiday gift guide featured in the December issue of O magazine, along with Favorite Things trivia, a video montage of the best Favorite Things moments from “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and an inside look at Oprah’s celebrity gifts short list.Continue reading...